In which Anakin is a genius
by LacrimaeRerum
Summary: I kept thinking how Anakin completing Threepio when he was 9 years old could be a Tony Stark kind of achievment. So I gave a shot at writing the story of a true genius chosen one, where Anakin fully uses his mental capacities. Expect BAMF Anakin. Tags will be added as the story is written.
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Star Wars universe. I own the ideas and plot of this story.

AN: English isn't my mother language, so if you notice any errors or mistakes in this story, please let me know and I will correct them. If anyone wants to beta, you are welcome. This is my first story, so don't judge too harshly. And most of all, enjoy!

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Anakin always knew he was smarter that most people. Really, he thought he was smarter than anyone he ever met. Not that's saying much, slaves weren't exactly bred for intelligence, but rather brute strength and endurance, and the somewhat capable ones took care of the rather few things that actually required some level of ingenuity and knowledge. He had wondered about it, and, when asked, his mother explained to him how it wouldn't do for the slaves to know too much or be capable of outsmarting their masters. Anakin was very careful since that day to never really show how much he understood of the world surrounding him, about the parts he worked with and the things he could build with them, even about people. Although, he couldn't say that he could understand people, not really, in his mind, people were stupid, unreasonable and making decisions with no sense whatsoever. He doesn't quite know what to think about him also being part of said people. But, he could observe patterns, remember them, use them to predict how they may act and react. That being said, Anakin always remembered everything, even from when he was very little. That's another thing he wasn't supposed to advertise. Nobody was supposed to know any of those things, who knew how word would have gone around.

It was really difficult for him to hide in the beginning, he was, after all, just a child, even if a slave child. It wasn't fair, how he had no choice about being a child and how a slave was never supposed to be so innocent and vulnerable. He thinks he might hate it, this stupid condition that just refuses to go away faster, regardless of how much work he keeps putting into seeing, knowing and understanding _everything_. He knows he hates it when the big questions come, about purpose, philosophy, souls, minds and hearts and he just doesn't know enough, hasn't seen and lived enough, experienced enough to be able to reach a definitive answer Why can't he get this process moving faster? How is he supposed to know what to do with his life? When he thinks he finally reaches an answer, his mind is oh so helpfully suppling him with another scenario, another exception, 'till he only speculates. He realized this trap a rather recently, speculation without proof is only speculation and can only take him so far. It's easy to make that your truth and then think it universal. There are far too many things that he can't test or research here.

So he sticks to simple things, being practical and being good. It was obvious why being practical was necessary, much less obvious was the being good part, but he settled that it makes him feel good. Both were easy in his mind. He knew what he needed to do. He had a purpose. He never hid that, not from his fellow slaves. Only some still naïve children took him seriously. But Anakin knew, not just thought, when he said he's going to free himself and then free all the slaves, that he didn't just dream, that it's only a matter a time. He would keep watching, learning and hiding, would prepare and wait for an opportunity. And if that didn't come, he would make one. _He_ could do it. Then he would go in the big world the pilots kept telling him stories about and _grow._ And most important, he would not forget his promise. That's why he always told people about his purpose, because if he spoke it to them it became a promise, it became real and he would have to keep it. First, he needed to be free and get out. Then he will see. The time will come. He could _feel_ it.

That's another thing that was supposed to be a secret. The biggest secret. The way he could sometimes _feel_ , _see_ more, _hear_ more. The way he sometimes felt that intuition and ingenuity alone haven't gotten him some result that fast, that good. How he could sometimes just _feel_ how new pieces would fit in the whole machinery and only after start to think about the why. It had played a very important part in his education. Rarer, it helped with people too. He would just know if somebody strongly felt something, later, with practice and observation, even what it was they felt. On one or two occasions, he could swear he could even hear a person thinking, not what about, just them doing it, the speed, the pattern. He tried to practice with this also and would sometimes get caught staring at one person or another. Up until the time one very old and very wise slave woman, the elder of the slaves in that part, looked deeply back at him. Like she could _see_ too. That's when he got scared, because it was imperative that nobody knew. That's when he decided he needed to learn to hide his mind too, in every plane of existence, then hide while _feeling._ If only he could get reliable data about his efforts in that! He only dared to talk to his mother about this, but she could truly not help. She was smart too, very observant, but she seemed to lack this extra sense. And he didn't have a father.

In the end, he decided the best he could do now until he could find some way to test it is by comparison with the physical world. Hide the thoughts he doesn't want known, don't think them, let them lost among the desert of his mind. Make them quiet, let them be the smallest spiders wandering the dunes, the most discreet serpents from under the sand, let them be overshadowed by the what he wanted known, by kryat dragons. And let all neutral and random thoughts fill the picture, be the occasional bush or rock. Let them all see the general landscape and be caught in it, let them thinks all is there and never try to look beneath. Just like he hides from the masters and the other slaves, it just all needed to be in his mind. It was harder with emotions. They seemed to just fill him, control him. He often even finds that his heart decides what needs to be done and his mind is left only with figuring out the way to get it done and justifications. Anakin decides then that if he can't quiet his normal emotions, he needs to make a lot of noise to cover them. He makes a storm. He practices summoning emotions then for every occasion. Anger and a healthy dose of fear always seem to do the trick with the masters. Both emotions they expect, know how to deal with, know they won't be a real threat. And anger can cover almost everything, with fear more or less underneath, so people don't look further. The only big problem is that feeling them sucks. So when his heart is not loud, he makes other covers too. He let's all the sweet innocent child characteristics come forth, and he's not a threat and nobody looks underneath. Like the sun that mirrors it's light so strongly on the surface of the calm desert, it just hides everything about the picture. It's all good because it's all him. There was hiding, but not pretending.

His mother was a little worried about these practices of him, but Anakin didn't really understand why. He was just keeping both of them safe. Seeming almost completely normal, non-threatening, showing just enough to make it worth it for Watto to keep him and his mother to take care of him, but not so much so that he becomes an escape danger or something too valuable. And, most important, being ready for the moment when they run towards freedom. Yeah, so he had his moments when he wondered if he wasn't too different, if he was _wrong._ Mom would always make him feel better, he would always be her boy. So maybe sometimes he was getting so lost in his mind he started to act a little weird or lost contact with just how the real concrete things really were. How the little grains of sand were just that. _But he swore if he really put all his will into them, they would mold together in the stone they composed before, in a form of his choosing._ But it doesn't happen so often now, he controls them. _Or, rather, he is afraid of making his mother afraid, he's afraid of being_ that _different_. And really, she doesn't need to be afraid, that's why she's always there to take care of him. And she will always be his side, he _will_ make sure of it. He knows, in his mind, that life isn't safe or secure at all for a slave, but he doesn't allow himself to think about the possibility of his mom being separated from him. He refuses.

When the Jedi came into his city, he thought he was ready.


	2. The start of a new beginning

When Anakin woke up today, he just knew something was going to happen, he _felt_ it. He even told his mother, he was so sure about it. Normally he tended to keep such things to himself so as not to worry his dear mom, but today was going to be big. He could hardly wait. Anakin was getting rather bored and restless, he has been "good" for the whole season now. If things were going to get interesting by themselves, well, that's not his fault, really. And if he were to somehow get involved, than it simply couldn't be helped. He grinned. He banished any kind of apprehension he might have felt far from his mind (even if it kind of lingered around his heart) and told himself that he knew all there was to know about his planet, he is quite capable of finding his way out of any nasty situation that might arise here, he knew all the rules (and some extra). As the morning suns were just about to start walking the sky, he thought to himself: 'Today is gonna be great.' _The most horrible of paths often have bright beginnings._ The words suddenly popped from his memory, the wise woman's voice full of chilling knowledge. Pfff, as if he's going to let his good mood go that easily. Anything can go badly, he thought. He's just wizard enough that things tend to go his way, as much as it can for a slave. That got his confidence right back up. And when he'll get himself and his mother free, he will be able to make everything happen just as he wants to.

So, with these cheering thoughts in mind, he started his new day with a lot of optimism. He waited, with a lot of patience, might he add, for the mysterious excitement to arrive. He did all his chores without hurry and with great care, he even allowed himself to speak freer than most days with Watto. He'll probably suffer some form of punishment until the end of the day anyway. And he kept himself wide open, all still desert waiting for even the gentlest wind to disturb it. Oh, but the disturbance wasn't what he would call gentle, not really, when it did come. What he _felt_ could only be classified as strange, alien even. Yes, alien is exactly the word. What strange presences are approaching, colorfully standing out from the normal feeling of the beings of Tatooine _? Two, there are two people_ , he can tell now that he completely concentrates on the traces of the intruders. _One droid is walking with them_ , of this he is certain, he is very familiar with most mechanic things after all and these one seems to carry a little of the same _colors_ like the strangers. _But there is something more…_ what is it _? He can't tell_. He almost thinks that it's not there… _but there's something disturbing the stillness, the almost emptiness of the desert_. _What is it? How can it be getting… "closer?" and yet show nothing?_

Anakin is startled out of his mind by his master's voice, "Boy, get in here now!", a voice he is trained to never ignore. He goes towards the voice to the front of the shop to see why he is needed and comes face to face with three strangers and an astromech. Normally, he would have loved to study more carefully that droid if the strangers weren't so… alien. These people weren't from Tatooine, or the kind that would come to this planet, willingly or not. These are very likely the people he just felt. His mind goes into full overdrive: Train of thought one, deduction: There are three persons, so the weird not-emptiness is actually one of them, it must have been a way to hide; natural or learned? Note to self: haven't been able to tell anything about the hidden presence, not even the distance to his location; never fully focus on the hidden presence, try learning information from its surroundings instead; if the presence hides this way than it may be able to _feel_ similarly to him; he doesn't know if he would _look_ like his peers. Immediate action: Check and be mindful of his mindscape. Two, group observation: two humans, one lizard looking species and an astromech, rather new, the people didn't fit together, no feeling of aggression coming from them, apparent leader: the man. Assign trains of observation for each: First, the human male: standing a little ahead of the group, seemingly calm, tall, old, but not frail looking, healthy looking, quiet confidence in his standing position, there was nothing truly showing on his face, but for a sense of maybe calm determination, he felt very… controlled, no immediate threat. Second, the human female: looking lost, but not afraid, not quite confident, but assured somehow, young, very healthy looking, dressed in simple clothes but from good materials by Tatooine visitors standards, standing a little behind the human male, looking a little curiously around, even if still lost, but there was more… she _felt_ … important?, entitled?, no immediate threat. Third, the lizard species: strong looking, harmless _feeling_ , curiously looking around, not careful about its surroundings, nor about the people around it, careless, looking at some parts from the shop with undue fascination, definitely not smart _feeling_ or looking, no immediate threat. Fourth, the droid: well cared for, in good order, standing attentively, not new, marks imply experience. General conclusions, no immediate threats, the man still remains the apparent leader, the girl is important somehow, the lizard is tagging with them for unknown reasons; almost surely the masked presence is the man; the ability to hide one's presence likely implies the ability to hide many things, there is reason for caution and wariness; there are no reason yet to believe that there will be trouble, he thinks they simply wish to blend in for now.

Anakin thinks all of this while he walks down the stairs and towards his master. What took you so long?, Watto asks. He answers truthfully, he was cleaning the fan switches, but was just a little distracted by something new, no? No need to mention that. He even shows his back to the strangers in a show of disregard; if they wish to blend in and hide, then they would feel safe and, if not, at least they don't like the kind that might act on being disrespected this way, but any reaction, or lack of one, would be a good information nevertheless. And people always show more when they think you're not looking at them. "Watch the store. I've got some selling to do." He climbed on the counter to do as told. He felt the need to sit down. Listening to his _feelings_ and letting his thoughts go at this speed always tired him and left him a little dizzy. He was sure he looked normal and the small discomfort is well hidden by his annoyance with it, which can easily be interpreted as annoyance at Watto. While facing Watto he thought it might be prudent to very slightly alter his mindscape to a desert not so easily disturbed by anything, even his own thoughts. The earlier barrage from his mind will probably register as nothing more than a violent wind with a lot of sand. He let winds and some "native life" to show. In other words, Anakin is now the image of a rather common mind state, enough to hide what he wants to remain unseen, enough to show some basic emotions and thoughts while looking open. He sees the man putting his hands on his hips while watching him for just a few moments, but he starts following his master to the back with the astromech. He stops to sternly warn the lizard-like creature from touching anything, but doesn't bother with further reprimanding it for the gesture of disrespect at his back. Anakin remains alone with the girl and the lizard. The lizard looks stupid enough to get an answer from to any question, but does it know anything of true value? No, best to make nice with the girl. The feeling that she is important isn't gone, so he allows himself just a few moments of study, trying to find any details that might have escaped him before. She starts looking around the shop again, giving him a good view of her braided hair. He hasn't seen any style that complicated around the spaceport, it brings to mind another of the words he learned from the traders, this might be what elegant means. Interesting. Her cheeks are also well rounded, so she is more than sufficiently fed, another very rare site around Tatooine. Her lack of fear is still surprising to him, is she very brave or confident in being protected? Can she take of herself or is that the job of the man? Perhaps both. Now that the man is not in the room anymore, he dares to better listen to his extra sense also. _She looks so… beautiful. Like a small fire, contained in the contours of her body, full of light and warmness, and so pure. She looks… clean… like only the youngest of children ever do here. Inside her he saw a very bright ball of determination, of drive. Looking deeper, it seemed to surround something… unlit, darkness? It felt like fear. She was brave indeed and definitely not a child._ There was more Anakin might have seen, but he didn't want to risk attracting the attention of the man yet and he didn't want to be rude by reading so far into her. Even so, what he saw made him lose any wariness he might have felt for her. She was lost here, and Anakin suddenly wanted to help and protect her from this place.

"Are you an angel?"

"What?" The girl looks at the boy, surprised. Anakin is suddenly taken aback. Didn't girls like to be complimented? Perhaps he just needs to explain.

"An angel. I heard the deep space pilots talk about them. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They live on the moons of Iego, I think." he adds, as he didn't have a way to verify these claims. But surely the comparison was nice, even if angels didn't exist. She looks more pleasantly surprised now. That's better.

"You're a funny little boy. How do you know so much?"

Anakin didn't mind being the object of her curiosity. Funny, huh? He wondered if she would use such a nice way to tell him he is different if she actually knew him. It reminded him abruptly that she is a stranger, not a friend.

He asnwers her question truthfully anyway. "I listen to all the traders to all the traders and star pilots who come through here." He decides to change the subject from his abilities of handling information before she might ask more towards something much simpler, but flashy enough to distract her. He would hate to have to lie to her or have to hide parts of the truth. "I'm a pilot, you know, and someday I'm gonna fly away from this place."

"You're a pilot?" she asks surprised.

"Mm-hmm. All my life."

"How long have you been here?"

"Since I was very little. Three, I think." He hesitated a little, but the words just seemed to slip from him before he could think why would he even to say them or what implications they might have. "My mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us betting on the podraces."

"You're a slave?" the girl both states and asks, with a perspicacious look, seeming to have just reached the conclusion, but not quite wanting to believe it.

Ugh, he should've just kept his mouth shut. He won't be seen an object or like one the so many broken or hopeless and resigned slaves out there, not by her. "I'm a person, and my name is Anakin." he says, some anger coating his words, but only some, she probably hadn't wanted to upset him.

"I'm sorry." she apologizes quickly. "I don't fully understand. This is a strange place to me."

They're talk is interrupting by the lizard-like creature humming a little, then activating a small droid. They both watch the amusing scene that follows. The girl smiles and almost laughs and while he would have enjoyed to watch what might happen next, he will definitely wouldn't like the consequences if the droid were damaged, so he tells the creature with some exasperation to hit the nose, just like the droid was activated, duh.

Their conversation continued, and he further enjoyed telling her about himself and seeing her reactions. Anakin thinks he might have even impressed her.

"…wouldn't have lasted long anyways if I wasn't so good at building things." As they were talking and The lizard was fooling around, the man returned from the back of the shop obviously unsuccessful with whatever he tried to negotiate if the way he walked was anything to go by.

"We're leaving. JarJar." the man strictly said.

"I'm glad to have met you, Anakin." The girl was already turning to follow the man.

"I was glad to meet you, too." Anakin said as she went out of the shop.

He remained alone with his master.

"Outlanders. They think we know nothing." Watto was looking thoughtfully and a not a little suspiciously after the outsiders. His master knew all there was to know about business. What could the man have tried to leave Watto like this? He knows better than to ask, but he might provoke an answer out of him.

"They seemed nice to me." It was even true.

"Clean the racks. Then you can go home." Clearly his master didn't feel like sharing his thoughts and that will be all there is to it. He was even dismissed early. Anakin decided to just enjoy his time, as he had a feeling he would meet the strangers again soon and eventually have an answer to his questions.

"Yippee!" he decides to voice his excitement, hopefully making Watto believe he had already put the outsiders out of his mind. He hears his master sigh as he leaves to finish his work for the day. Surprisingly, he feels patient.

Up until he realizes that while he talked plenty about himself, the only things he knows about the girl are from his observations. She did not tell him anything about herself. He feels awfully foolish, even if thinks the girl wasn't mean in not sharing information. He hadn't directly asked anything about her, being plenty content to talk about himself. Ugh, now he also felt stupid. What was wrong with him? Kriff, but he hates feeling stupid almost as much as he hates being a slave. He can only conclude that he was so taken with her _beauty_ that he completely let his guard down and forgot himself and his… position in life. A slave should never trust. He didn't think she'd do anything that might harm him knowingly, but he only ever saw children being that _clean inside,_ naive children. She is smart, he has seen it in her eyes, but he knows, better than anyone, that it is enough.

He won't be stupid again.

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 **AN:** I'm very sorry for taking so long to update. I started this story purely for the therapeutic effects of writing and posted out of curiosity. I've dealt with the immediate problems so now I have some time. It also took a while to think where I wanted to go with it.

 **Regarding the story itself:**

-I will go through the entire episode I. So far we have been thoroughly introduced to Anakin's thinking process in regards to observation. The trend might continue somewhat, but I think we all got the general idea and I don't want the story to become repetitive; I'll try to vary the feeling of the narration. As I see it, Anakin was waiting for an opportunity and got used to getting ready for that moment, and that pretty much meant observing and learning. His slave life coupled with the kind of thinking I've provided him with made him very mature in some areas, and by that I mean measured and cautious, among other things, more likely to try and deduce than open his mouth to make room for his foot :) And that will cause some the mother of most misunderstandings with the jedi and some of her daughters too. But we'll get started on that later.

-You might find the language very simple and dry. That is partly on purpose. The narration follows Anakin's thoughts and he, while being very intelligent, has very low language skills. He hasn't needed it so far and he would have had where to learn a more complex speech anyway. 3PO could only tach him manners, but he can barely imagine a context in which he could try them. So, the complexity and beauty of the language will grow with Anakin and my writing skills ;)

 **To answer some reviews:**

-I agree that it is always interesting to read different ways about how Anakin might have developed without the constricting views of the Jedi, but in this story, I prefer to see my version of Anakin struggling within those exact confines. I have some interesting ideas that start with Anakin refusing to be trained by the Jedi Order after his success on Naboo, with the main action developing around him and Palpy. Imagine a free Anakin with good emotional support. Palpy will have his work cut out for him. But he's a sith, so there will be a struggle, one way or another :))) But that would be another story… to be written later, much later, as it would truly start with Anakin being older. I need to improve my writing before starting that.

-I have yet to decide if or how much or for how long Anakin will fall. Clearly Palpy won't be having such an easy time with this Anakin, but that doesn't mean he might not succeed. We all know that the more gifted is a person, the greater the challenges. But I am listening to any ideas suggested to me.

-Anakin, being him, a very dynamic person and a practical one, won't be having philosophical debates for the sake of it, but, as the jedi will try to convert him to their beliefs, he will keep challenging his own and keep his eyes open for new data to factor to the problem. This version of Anakin won't just simultaneously try to listen but mostly disregard what he's being told by the jedi in an effort to avoid thinking about it. If anything, I hear some geniuses think too much. But you may be assured that he'll hardly be searching for philosophical solutions to his problems, but he will be confronted with situations that demand it.


End file.
